CONTRIBUTED PHOTO — Former Times-Republican staff writer and current contributor Sara Jordan-Heintz recently penned a new book titled "The Incredible Life and Mysterious Death of Dorothy Kilgallen."

Sara Jordan-Heintz, a former Times-Republican staff writer who rejoined the paper as a regular freelance contributor last year, first became aware of the late Dorothy Kilgallen as a teenager through her father Larry Jordan, a fellow journalist. Jordan-Heintz and her dad were watching reruns of the old game show “What’s My Line?” when he shared with her that Kilgallen, who was a regular panelist on the program, had died under “mysterious circumstances” in 1965.

Those two words, especially in connection with the death of a public figure, tend to fester in the mind of a reporter, and Jordan-Heintz said she wrote one of her first big stories for the family magazine, “Midwest Today,” which no longer prints a hard copy but still has a website and a radio show, on the circumstances surrounding her passing. The cause of death has always been officially listed as a combination of alcohol and barbiturates, but in Jordan-Heintz’s research, she’s found reason to believe there’s much more to the story.

The original article titled “Who Killed Dorothy Kilgallen?” was published in 2007, and she thought about using the same title when she decided to expand it into a full length book. But she wanted to tell the full story of the gadfly columnist who was famous for her feud with Frank Sinatra, her writing about the murder trial of a Cleveland area doctor named Sam Sheppard that later inspired the TV show and beloved Harrison Ford film “The Fugitive,” and ultimately — and perhaps most importantly — her interest in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and skepticism surrounding the Warren Commission’s findings.

Jordan-Heintz ultimately settled on “The Incredible Life and Mysterious Death of Dorothy Kilgallen” as a way of creating a hybrid between a traditional biography and a true-crime thriller and breaking it into three main sections — Kilgallen’s early life, the JFK assassination and Kilgallen’s untimely death and legacy. She does offer one warning, however: if you’re a believer in the single bullet, lone gunman theory, the book may not be for you.

“I think if you feel like there was no conspiracy, case closed, you’re probably not gonna think Dorothy was murdered. I think you kind of have to believe one, or otherwise, why would she have people after her?” Jordan-Heintz said.

At a time when syndicated newspaper columnists were some of the most powerful and widely read writers on the planet, Kilgallen not only very publicly questioned the Warren Commission but even managed to score two private conversations with Jack Ruby, the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald on live television, during his trial.

“No other journalist got that opportunity, and I think because she was such a celebrity, that’s how she kind of ingratiated herself. She was such a big deal, you know, she would walk into a courtroom and the judge would ask for her autograph,” Jordan-Heintz said. “So I think she tried to use those connections… if she was kind of pushing an idea or questioning the official Warren Commission verdict, that’s a pretty powerful platform to have.”

Jordan-Heintz admitted that she was nervous about the pushback she might receive for diving deeper into the popular idea that forces within the U.S. government — namely the Central Intelligence Agency and its assets — may have been directly involved in the most infamous murder in American history.

“When Kennedy was assassinated, the first things Dorothy wrote about were memories of meeting him about a year prior with her young son. They did a White House tour, just how regal Jackie (Kennedy) was, you know, it was very sentimental. But then I feel like when Oswald was assassinated by Ruby, it really took a turn. The tone changed from kind of wistful to ‘I’d like to know what’s going on,'” Jordan-Heintz said.

Jordan-Heintz’s research into Kilgallen’s death ultimately led her to another mysterious figure named Ron Pataky, who died in 2022, and evidence that he was connected to the CIA and even involved in the agency’s effort to overthrow the democratically elected Guatemalan government in 1954. Pataky, a Stanford alum, was an entertainment reporter for a newspaper in Columbus, Ohio, who was frequently seen around the country and dated celebrities like Mia Farrow.

“I think what happened was he was paid, perhaps by the government, to kind of romance her and keep her under surveillance,” she said. “And I think he was the perfect choice. She kind of liked younger men (and) he was also a journalist.”

Although she’s not sure of the dates yet, Jordan-Heintz plans to host a book talk and signing at the Marshalltown Public Library sometime in the near future, and paperback copies of “The Incredible Life and Mysterious Death of Dorothy Kilgallen” can be purchased on Amazon. Signed copies are also available through the publisher’s website, www.pageturnerbooks.biz. An ebook is also in the works.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.